Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia
1962
=spoilers, perhaps=
The visual character of color film is drastically different from that of black and white. Black and white cinematography, when carefully considered, paints in light, shadow, and contrast. Color film, on the other hand, is all about color. If you haven't yet noticed, most color films that aren't schlock reject the Technicolor range of "The Wizard of Oz" and restrict themselves to a carefully considered pallette. In "Lawrence of Arabia," the pallette is one of blue-gray sky, white robes, and a surprisingly varicolored desert. The visual coherence of a color film has much to do with the consideration of the colors it uses.
As for the movie itself, "Lawrence" is really rather fantastic. Peter O'Toole's beautiful eyes bare the soul of the tortured T.E. Lawrence. His developing messiah complex and conflicted feelings on violence and leadership and selfhood ("Who are you?" is the film's central question) are fascinating viewing, and in the grand tradition of Chas. F. Kane. The film (like "Gandhi," another excellent biopic that also features white British actors made up as brown-skinned people) maintains the tradition of the hero of mythic proportions, mythic successes, and mythic failures that goes back to Gilgamesh. Everyone likes a good hero (just ask Joseph Campbell). Many shots in the earlier desert scenes are textbook examples of the Rule of Thirds in action, and there are a couple great shots where the placement of the horizon and the desert sun on the screen vary, to striking visual effect.
The scene where the Arab army loots the train is hilarious.
I'm probably doing a terrible, overly-pretentious job of these reviews so far, but oh well. I'll turn my notes on "The Godfather" into a post in a day or so.
1962
=spoilers, perhaps=
The visual character of color film is drastically different from that of black and white. Black and white cinematography, when carefully considered, paints in light, shadow, and contrast. Color film, on the other hand, is all about color. If you haven't yet noticed, most color films that aren't schlock reject the Technicolor range of "The Wizard of Oz" and restrict themselves to a carefully considered pallette. In "Lawrence of Arabia," the pallette is one of blue-gray sky, white robes, and a surprisingly varicolored desert. The visual coherence of a color film has much to do with the consideration of the colors it uses.
As for the movie itself, "Lawrence" is really rather fantastic. Peter O'Toole's beautiful eyes bare the soul of the tortured T.E. Lawrence. His developing messiah complex and conflicted feelings on violence and leadership and selfhood ("Who are you?" is the film's central question) are fascinating viewing, and in the grand tradition of Chas. F. Kane. The film (like "Gandhi," another excellent biopic that also features white British actors made up as brown-skinned people) maintains the tradition of the hero of mythic proportions, mythic successes, and mythic failures that goes back to Gilgamesh. Everyone likes a good hero (just ask Joseph Campbell). Many shots in the earlier desert scenes are textbook examples of the Rule of Thirds in action, and there are a couple great shots where the placement of the horizon and the desert sun on the screen vary, to striking visual effect.
The scene where the Arab army loots the train is hilarious.
I'm probably doing a terrible, overly-pretentious job of these reviews so far, but oh well. I'll turn my notes on "The Godfather" into a post in a day or so.